With a little help from Oprah Winfrey and a few others, Pop
singer turned philanthropist Lady Gaga
formally and officially launched her “Born This Way Foundation” Wednesday
(Feb 29) at Harvard University.
The newly launched foundation’s
point of existence is to “challenge meanness and cruelty by inspiring
young people to create a support system in their respective communities”,
Gaga said.
“When you see someone being negative
to somebody else, it’s OK to intervene and stand up for someone that needs it …
I don’t believe that one person can change the world. I believe that humankind,
as a whole, can change the world”, Gaga told a crowd of more than 1,000 people.
25-year-old Gaga says she was bullied in school, and knows that it will take a
while to shift people’s perceptions about bullying. But she says the first step
is not to demonize bullies.
“We do not make a distinction
between the bully and the victim. Because each person is an equally important
and valuable member of society,” she said. “What the foundation is about is a
transformative change that is going to take a long time to affect the overall
culture. Bullies were born this way, too”.
Asked why she feels as though she
can change the world’s perception on bullying, Gaga laughed, “I guess I sort of have this feeling that if
I can make a song called ‘Just Dance’ really big all over the world, I might be
able to make a song that’s, you know, ‘Just Be Nice!’”
During the press conference at
Harvard, Lady Gaga was joined by Oprah Winfrey and her mother Cynthia
Germanotta, who will serve as the foundation’s president.
Oprah says her involvement with the
foundation is based on her own personal values. “What is exciting to me,” Winfrey
said, “is that thought leaders have gathered together as one force to ask why
does bullying and violence and hatred against young people continue in our society
and what we can do about it”.
Watch
video footage from the press conference below:
